Red claw crab and betta?

[Hrafnkel]

I have a red clawed crab and a betta in seperate containers and was wondering if the crab could go in with the betta (in a tall-ish hexagonal 5 gallon). He wouldn't typically be able to get the betta, except maybe when the betta is resting on a plant. Would this be a bad idea?

 

[mr86mister]

eesh, its hard to tell, it basically depends on boths personalities

i would try to put them together and sit and watch for a bit to see how they interact

HTH

 

[Hrafnkel]

Alright. I'll wait 'til I get another response or two, I think. The betta's not hostile at all, but I've never seen the crab interacting with another critter before.

 

[jrp1588]

I had a fiddler crab that gutted a rosy barb once. In the crab's defense, the rosy barb was kind of a jerk to him.

 

[Hrafnkel]

Fiddler crabs also have gigantic claws, though. >.>

 

[jrp1588]

Yeah, I know, I just thought it was an interesting little anecdote.

 

[Hrafnkel]

I'm also concerned that the crab might snip off the fake plants' leaves. >.>

 

[Hrafnkel]

Well, that was interesting. I should've planned better.

So I put the crab in, right. He's sitting on one of the plants... And the betta charges at him. He snaps a claw at the betta, barely missing. The betta's two.. long skinny fins on his body look somewhat like crab legs, and I think he's severed some of the crab's appendages. So I frantically pull off the top of the tank, grabbing the net at the same time, and shove it in there to just break them up. The crab takes off. Crabs are harder to catch in a hexagonal tank, btw. I finally get him and place him in his container, but realize I should clean his water. So I go get the little cup my betta came in, and put the crab in there. I go outside and start hosing the tank (don't want the solid debris in the sink) and discover that he DIDN'T eat his old shell. He broke it into pieces, and buried it in the gravel. Go figure. Finally put water in it, dechlorinate, and put the crab back. Then replace the top of the betta's tank.

In short, don't try it unless you've planned well. >.>

 

[mr86mister]

well its better then you putting them together then going to bed

i beleive you did the right thing and just see what happened

no deaths is as good as it gets

 

[tkos]

Crabs need to get to the surface of the water and they are actually brackish. So they aren't a great match with Bettas.

 

[Hrafnkel]

Quite frankly, I have no idea. Half the things I read says red claw crabs are brackish, half say freshwater.

And yeah. Not only no deaths, but no real injuries. Just a few critters that got a bit shaken up.